Saturday, 22 August 2015

A charity fun run that invited men to dress up as women is being investigated by police after a transgender charity claimed the dress code constituted a hate crime.

Officers were asked to look into the 'Dames on the Run' race - where men run dressed as women to raise funds for a children's hospice - by a transsexual support group.

Chrysalis Transsexual Support Groups say the five kilometre run, organised by Derian House Children's Hospice, in Chorley, Lancashire, is "dehumanising".

They are now attempting to stop the run, due to take place in October, which raises money to support the hospice that looks after sick and terminally ill children.

Steph Holmes, of Chrysalis, said: "We get enough confusion with the word transgender, which mixes us up with transvestites.

"Transvestites certainly don't dress for comic purposes and I don't get up in the morning and think 'what can I put on today to give people a laugh?'

"This race pokes fun at cross-dressing and, by association, us, reducing us to objects to be laughed at.

"Dehumanising us this way gives carte blanche to those that would do us physical harm, much like the gay bashers of old.

"It's a small step from ridicule to persecution. The current stats suggest a 34 per cent chance of beaten up, raped or killed for being trans. We do not need to give the bigots any more ammunition.

"I am sure that Derian House didn't intend to give offence. The very fact that its a children's hospice should make them sensitive to potential bad publicity and the effect that this has on young trans people."

Derian House said they were "shocked" to receive a complaint about the event and did not intend to cause any upset or offence...

1 comment:

You should know that your article 'Drag Race: All Hail The Fun Police' is perpetuating the gross inaccuracies of the Telegraph. I am Steph Holmes of Chrysalis Transsexual Support Groups.

Contrary to what was said in the article, Chrysalis did NOT contact the police, and the run is most certainly NOT a hate crime. Also Chrysalis has NOT been contacted by Derian House.

Originally it was promoted as a drag race, which Derian House have since changed to panto. In a press release I pointed out that Susie Poppitt, Derian House's head of fundraising, had said that men dressing as women was something to be laughed at, and how that was wrong on so many levels.

I suggested alternative ideas, such as the national events where people turn up dressed as faerie folk (current record 700) and they could then run.

Derian House do wonderful work helping children and Chrysalis are fully supportive of them.

Chrysalis has for years run support groups in the North West of England supporting people with transitioning, housing, employment, advocacy (with doctors, GICs, employers, etc), giving presentations to schools, colleges and institutions, and supporting relatives and friends. We liaise with NHS Trusts, many organisations, and run Involvement for the NHS. We strive to get the suicide rate down from 34%.